Nightmare
by vonnie836
Summary: Things are not always what they apear to be


Nightmare

Standard Disclaimer: I don't own the guys from Adventure Inc., nor do I make any money of them. This is just for fun. If you disagree and try to take me to court, you just get a couple of kids, a husband, a dog, two dwarf hamsters and a fish. 

Rating: PG 13

Summary and Warning: Things are not always what they appear to be!

There had been not a lot of sleep for the crew of the 'Vast Explorer' lately. They had been for a salvage operation southeast of the coast of Mexico. Everything had gone alright until the moment they headed back. This was when the engines decided to give out. It had taken Gabe's constant attention to keep them running it. What was supposed to be a one day trip to the next harbor ended up taking them almost three days. 

It was late in the afternoon when they finally anchored in the harbor of their destination, a small fishing town. Gabe immediately headed out to get the spare parts he needed. It didn't take him long to find a run down building with a sign over the door that read in Spanish 

                                                               "Juan Rodriguez – parts and repairs"

He entered with high hopes, showing the owner the part he needed.

 The old man disappeared for a moment, when he returned, he shook his head and said in broken English, "Sorry, senior, I can order this for you but it will take a week!"

Gabe's heart sank, he knew they were due at there next assignment in four days. Standing in the middle of the small repair shop, he let out a deep sigh.  The owner could the disappointment on his face.

 He took the part out of his hand and looked at it, then he said, "I can't repair it but maybe my brother Marcos can! He can fix almost anything, I am sure he can help you!"

He gave him direction and Gabe took off again. The man lived about 2 miles outside of town and Gabe decided to take the small road that led in that direction by foot.  Although it was already late in the day, the sun was still burning down with full power. The path was rough and there were only very few trees in the area. 

After walking about halfway Gabe spotted a girl sitting on the side of the road. She was holding her ankle and as he approached, he could see the painful expression on her face. She also had noticed him and now waved at him. 

Gabe stopped. Not trusting his rusty Spanish, he asked, "What happened?"

Thankfully he discovered her English was excellent, "I slipped and I think I twisted my ankle, maybe even broke it!"

He took a look at the extremity. It was swollen and started to show signs of discoloration. As he moved it she started to moan out in pain.

"Well", he finally said, "I don't think it is broken but I don't think you are going to bear any weight on it for a moment!"

For the first time he really looked at her. She was very pretty. Black hair framing a heart shaped face in which large dark eyes were the focus point. She was probably not older than 15 but fully developed. And it was clear that she knew how to use these features to her advantage.

"Oh Senior, you must help me, my family lives only a few minutes from here!" she said, leaning against him more than she actually had to.

Gabe had to smile, any other time this might have tempted him but not today. Yet he knew he couldn't just let her sit at the side of the road.

"Okay, let me help you!"

He assisted her up and then helped her walk. Again she was leaning against him very heavily, finally letting herself sink into his arms with a small scream of pain.

"I can't, it hurts too bad!" she complained.

Gabe finally picked her up and carried her. Thankfully she was not very heavy and the tiny farm that belonged to her family was really just a few minutes away.

Nobody seemed to be at home and so Gabe carried her into the house and sat her down on the sofa.

"This is it, I need to leave now!" he started to turn but was held back by her hand.

"Please, just help me to take my shoe off, then I will be okay!"

Gabe carefully untied the shoe and pulled it off her foot. This was when he slipped and fell forward, right on top of her. He could hear a giggle coming from her.

 Before he was able to stand up, he felt himself pulled up and spun around. The man he now looked at was at least 4 inches taller and twice as wide as he was. He never had a chance to say anything before he felt a large fist connect with his face. His head snapped backwards and it felt like he was lifted up. He fell back on the girl. Unfortunately this made the giant even madder and he was grabbed and thrown into the other direction where he connected with the wall and slid down to the floor. For a moment he just sat there too dazed to react. He heard shouting and screaming in Spanish until he finally could filter out the words "leave, leave" coming from the girls mouth. In looking up, he saw her holding on to the giant. How he managed to get up and run out, he would never be able to tell but somehow he did. 

Only when he got back to the road did he stop for a moment to get his breath back. He could feel the burning in his right eye where the fist had connected and from the pressure and blurry vision he could tell he would be in for a few days of very poor vision. His back and ribs ached from hitting the wall and would likely have bruises. This sure hadn't been his day, right now all he wanted was to be as far away as possible. 

The need to still get the part fixed overruled his desire to return to the Vast Explorer. So he continued his journey and finally ended up at his destination. This was also were he found out about his little encounter with the giant. 

Marcos Rodriguez smiled as he told him that the girls name was Esperanza  Lopez and she was really only 15. But this didn't keep her from flirting with just about every man and boy in the area. The giants name was Carlos Donados, her boy friend. The old man went on by telling him that Carlos had beaten up several men over her. On of them had been found dead with a knife in his chest. There had been several people that swore he had fallen into his own knife but rumors had it that Carlos actually had forced the man's hand with the knife in it until he pushed it all the way into his chest. 

Gabe had gotten very quiet while he listened to the story. He was no coward but he sure wouldn't want to meet Carlos again. Eager to change the subject, he handed the broken part to the old man. 

He looked at it for just a moment, than he said, "No problem, I can fix it and for a few pesos extra I will bring it to your ship tomorrow by noon."

He gave Gabe a smile, well knowing how the younger man felt.

+++++

 The way back to the harbor seemed to take forever. Gabe's right eye was now almost swollen shut and his back ached more than before. The sleepless nights and the anxiety of the past few days had now really gotten a hold of him and he felt totally drained. When he finally approached the ship, he felt almost dead on his feet. 

Mac was on deck and gave him a questioning look as he walked by her.

 "Don't ask!" he waved her off, trying to escape her grip.

"No way, buddy, what happened? Can't I leave you out of my sight for even a few hours?"

 She took a closer look at his face and dragged him below to the kitchen area. There she started to fill a bag with ice and handed it to him. 

"Judson, you need to see this!" She called out to their friend who was sitting in the living room, with a book in his hand.

He got up and stuck his head through the doorway. For a moment he was quiet, then he said, "What did you do?  Tangle with a bear?"

"Just was in the wrong place at the wrong time!" Gabe replied, hoping he would get away without long explanations.

"Are you hurt anywhere else?" Mac now had her mother hen face on.

"I'm fine, just really tired, I just take a couple Aspirin and go to bed. I  promise, I tell you about it tomorrow!"

Mac and Judson could hear the weariness in his voice and now took a closer look at him. It was obvious that he was dead on his feet. Considering the events of the last few days this wasn't really a surprise, so they decided not to bug him anymore. Mac handed him a glass of water and some pain killers.

After he had swallowed them Judson shoved him into the direction of his room, "Go to bed, I check on you later!"

+++++

Gabe hardly remembered how he got to his room. Not bothering with getting undressed, he carefully laid down on his bed and even though the bruises on his back and ribs hurt, he was asleep before he hit the pillow.

It seemed like only minutes when a loud noise woke him up with a start. He was standing in the middle of the room before he was fully awake and instantly could feel the soreness in his muscles again. His heart was pumping in his throat as he tried to figure out what had woke him up. Finally he realized it had been a gun shot coming from upstairs. 

The realization made him scramble out of his room and up the stairs. The sight that greeted him was beyond description and almost back him fall back. Judson was lying on deck, bleeding from a knife wound in the middle of his chest. His lifeless eyes still pointed in the direction of the large man, who was on the ground not too far from him. Gabe instantly recognized Carlos and he could see that he was dead also, hit by a bullet in the back. The knife that had killed Judson had fallen out of his hand and was now laying beside him.

Gabe stumbled over to Judson's body, unable to clear his mind. His friend couldn't be dead, this couldn't be real. 

"Mac!" he didn't realize that he had spoken out loud. He suddenly realized that the shot that killed Carlos had to have come from her. He turned around. 

Mac was leaning against the wall. Her hand with the gun still in it was hanging down. Her breathing was heavy and as her eyes met Gabe's she was shaken by a coughing fit. Blood started to bubble out of her mouth and a gasp escaped her. Slowly she started to slide down until she came to a sitting position.

Gabe hurried over and fell on his knees beside her. Her breathing was labored, blood still flowing from her now bluish tinged lips. Only at this time did he see the stab wound on the left side of her chest. There was not much blood coming from it but she was obviously bleeding internally. 

"Hold on Mac, I'm going to get help!" he assured her as he tried to get up.

Her hand grabbed a hold of his. He could see the pleading in her eyes as she desperately fought for every breath. She started to cough again and this time he could feel blood splattering his cloths. There was another gasp from her lips, then her eyes broke and he could feel her hand let go of his as her now lifeless body slid all the way down.

Without thinking Gabe started CPR until he was to exhausted to continue, then he just held her close, cradling her in his arms like a mother would a child.

+++++

Gabe had no idea how long he sat like this without moving. There was no thought in his mind, just disbelieve. In just one moment his world had come to an end.

Finally he got up and called the authorities. He answered the questions they had when they arrived, then went downstairs. They were going to do an investigation of the crime scene and he didn't want to be there. 

He went to the kitchen and took a soda out of the refrigerator. Then he sat down and started to nibble on the chips that were still sitting on the table from last night.   
  
"How can you eat at a time like this!" he spoke the words out loud, yet he felt like they were spoken by someone else. The whole thing seemed too surreal, too unimaginable to have happened. He knew it was true, his friends, his family were gone. Yet he felt no sadness or grief. The only emotion he seemed to be capable of experiencing at this point was anger. Anger at Carlos for killing his friends, anger at Mac and Judson for getting themselves killed, and mostly anger at himself for causing this.  His friends had been killed by a madman that had been after him. 

"Gabe, you've done it, you screwed up once again. Only this time there is no fixing it!" 

He threw the can of soda at the wall and ran upstairs, not stopping until he left the town behind him.

For hours he just walked around without destination. The thoughts in his minds scrambled, the only things clear the pictures of Judson body and Mac's pleading eyes. They haunted him, made him continue to walk until he finally sank to the ground, unable to continue on. 

Dead – the finality of the word hit him with all its power, grabbed him, spun him around and spit him out again. It left him without hope and drained all his enthusiasm for life like it had never existed.

His head dropped in the sand and his eyes closed as he slipped into a dreamless sleep that bordered on unconsciousness.

When he finally awoke, he walked back to the Vast Explorer and started to do the things that needed to be done.

+++++

The next week went by like in a trance. Gabe flew back to Beau Harbor on the same flight that returned Mac and Judson's bodies there. He notified Mac's family and some of Judson's relatives. After dipping into his trust fund, he took over all costs for the funeral. And he made sure that his friends were buried just as they had lived – side by side. 

It turned out to be a nice funeral with only friends and some close family. Mac's father asked him to make a eulogy but Gabe declined still to numb to even consider how he felt about his friends. He kept in the back ground and was back on a flight to Mexico before the gathering was over.

+++++

Now he stood on the Vast Explorer, for the first time in a week considering what to do next. No matter where he went, he could still feel Mac and Judson's presence. The laughter and playful bickering followed him through every room until he ended up in his own cabin. 

The ship was nothing without the team and the team no longer existed. And suddenly Gabe knew what needed to be done.  First thing in the morning he would fix the engines and take the ship out to the open sea. There he would sink her, bringing finality to what had already ended with the deaths of his friends. Where he would go from there, only heaven knew.

Lying down on his bed, he finally allowed himself to grieve. As the tears rolled down his cheeks and sobs shook his body, he realized it was better to loose than to never have.  For a short time he had a family, this was more than some other people could say. He could never replace them and at this point he had no idea how to go on. But they had died protecting him and for their sakes he had to go on.. For the first time he had something like a feeling of peace in his heart that very fast turned into tiredness. And before he realized it he was fast asleep.

+++++

A noise woke him up with a start. Jumping up, he felt a pain in his ribs and face, that he hadn't felt in days. Confused he looked around. The noise had come from the kitchen. Carefully he opened his door and walked out.

He heard a voice speaking in Spanish and he recognized the words as something like "The engine is ready to go!"

Entering he saw Marcos Rodriguez standing with his back to him. He blocked his view to the other person in the room. He was just ready to push him to the side, when he felt a hand being laid on his shoulder.

"Hi Gabe, Marcos came by to drop off the part and then he decided to fix the engine! He told us about your little run in with Carlos yesterday!"

The sound of the familiar voice made him spin around. All color drained from his face and he started to sway. At the same time he felt himself caught by strong hands.

"Are you okay? Mac, help me to sit him down!"

He was guided to a chair, all the while his eyes where fixed on the two people helping him. Disbelieve was written on his face.

"Mac, Judson!" he stammered, unable to clear his mind. His friends were dead, this wasn't possible.

"Gabe, you look like you've seen a ghost!" Mac handed him a glass of water, just to take it away again before he dropped it. 

It took him a moment to gather enough strength to talk, finally he said, "You… you are dead!"

For a moment it was quiet, then Judson grinned, "Well, I don't know about you Mac, I might be a little tired but otherwise I feel very much alive! What in the world made you think we were dead?"

And suddenly the realization started to dawn in Gabe's mind. This all had been only a dream. And this also explained, why his face and back still hurt. It had been only yesterday that he had been beaten.

  
"It was so real!" he said, slowly starting to recount his nightmare.

Mac and Judson exchanged glances, both of them unsure how to respond. After Gabe finished, Judson took a deep breath. There was a grin on his face when he finally started to speak, "Hey, I can tell you one thing, if you ever sink my ship, I will come back to haunt you, no matter how dead I am!"

"Yeah and I'm going to help him, after all, she is my home too!" Mac laughed.

Gabe could feel the tension fall of him like an empty shell. It had been just a bad dream, his friends were alive, his family intact.

A relieved breath escaped him, then he grinned, "How about making me something to eat, I'm starving!"

"Would you believe this?" Mac looked at Judson, "First he kills us off and now he wants us to serve him lunch! Shouldn't it be the other way around?"

"Hey, I am still growing!" Gabe protested with a smile, "I need my regular meals!"

"Okay, Mac, give the kid his food, he can pay us back the next two days by cooking some of his specialties!"

Mac grinned, "Oh you mean 'burned sacrifices ala Gabe'?"

"Who is serving burned sacrifices?" Gabe grabbed a towel from the counter and threw it at her. She ducked and it hit Judson instead. This started a 'towel battle' that ended with all of them giggling and laughing.

Marcos Rodriguez just stood by with a smile on his face, the old man could tell the special friendship that these three people shared would never be torn apart.

The End


End file.
